Jun 06, 2013 11:40 AMThe case study on the Apple Farming Project shows how an innovative social enterprise model could be an effective tool for securing livelihoods of apple farmers in the north Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

May 21, 2013 06:15 PMIndia’s Minister for Water Resources, Harish Rawat, lauds the innovative apple project of Uttarakhand, a model that has freed small apple farmers from the clutches of middlemen besides introducing business acumen in them.

May 21, 2013 04:50 PMAlok Jain, Chairman, Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited and Chief Investment Commissioner, Uttarakhand, said that setting up a cold storage facility with modern facilities in a backward area is a commendable project.

May 21, 2013 04:20 PMSanjeev Chopra, Mission Director and Joint Secretary (NHM & NMMI), Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, said that while the land holdings are getting smaller, and the number of small farmers is rising in the Indian agricultural scenario.

May 17, 2013 06:10 PMThe inaugural session of the farmer's conference, 'Partnering for Rural Prosperity: Farmers as owners' saw many experts from the field of agriculture, the government and farmers come together to discuss how to get more ownership and profits to the farmers.
[South Asia]
[India]
[supply chains]
[Agriculture]

May 17, 2013 05:55 PMAt one of the sessions of the “Partnering for Rural Prosperity: Farmers as Owners” business and farmers came together to discuss ways in which both can come together in mutually profitable ways.

May 16, 2013 05:40 PMAlok Kumar Jain, Additional Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand (Currently, Chairman,Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited), said in 2012, that the Apple Project which is being run by the cooperation of farmers and Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), a Rishikesh based NGO with the help of Stichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW), will bring more money to the small apple farmers who were so far at the mercy of the middlemen.

May 16, 2013 05:00 PMLaxmi Prakash Semwal, Chairman of Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), a Rishikesh-based NGO, believes that a business-driven model can not only empower marginalised farmers but can also promote sustainable socio-economic development. OneWorld South Asia speaks to the man behind the apple project in Uttarakhand. Excerpts from the interview.

May 16, 2013 04:26 PMIn this concept paper L.P. Semwal, Chairman of Shri Jagdamba Samiti, and Edwin Willemsen, Fresh Food Technology, talk about a new approach is to create a profitable partnership between investors and farmer groups, by setting up joint agro-processing enterprises, based on solid feasibility studies and business plans.

May 16, 2013 04:00 PMStichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW), a Dutch family foundation, promotes sustained economic development in rural areas of developing countries like India. Dipankar Borah representing SHGW in India, in an interview to OneWorld South Asia, says that consumers can enjoy better quality products if the farmers are assured of a price for their produce. Excerpts from the interview.
[Economic development]
[Agriculture]
[Farmers]

May 16, 2013 01:30 PMThere is a silent revolution happening in the apple hills of India. An initiative to empower the small farmers of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has taken root wherein they are setting up joint venture companies. Six such companies, initially funded by an investor, are on the ground and the farmers eventually hope to own them once the money is repaid back to the investor.
[South Asia]
[Apple farmers]
[India]
[Agri-business]
[Agri-technology]

May 16, 2013 11:25 AMLaxmi Prakash Semwal, Chairman of Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), a Rishikesh based NGO, believes that a business-driven model can not only empower the small apple farmers in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, it can also promote sustainable socio-economic development.

May 15, 2013 06:45 PMLaxmi Prakash Semwal, Chairman of Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), a Rishikesh-based NGO talks about farmer-led companies which he has been setting up in the Himalayan region in partnership with financial institutions, technology-providers and importantly, small farmers. He writes a concept note in which he talks about how such an entity functions and how it delivers results and profits to the apple-growing farmers in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

May 15, 2013 06:35 PMWith the existence of apple collection centres, apple farmers from the local areas of Uttarakhand are able to sell their produce at market rates to the collective where the apples are then graded, sorted, packed and also pre-cooled for further storage.
[South Asia]
[Apple farmers]
[India]

May 15, 2013 06:30 PMThe apple project of Uttarakhand, which is a unique kind of an initiative, has succeeded in empowering the small farmers of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh by enabling them to move up the value chain, says Amar Singh Kafola, Farmer Director, KINCAID India.

May 15, 2013 06:20 PMShri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), a Rishikesh based NGO, is engaged in the task of empowering small apple farmers in the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, by enabling farmers to move up the economic chain.
Vikram Singh, Senior Executive, ICT and Value Chain, at SJS, advocates that ICTs could be an effective tool for imparting farm related inputs to farmers to make the reap a quality harvest.
[Apple farmers]
[ICTs]
[India]
[Agri-business]
[Agri-technology]

May 15, 2013 06:15 PMA one-day conference in Indian capital New Delhi is highlighting how agri-value chains in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand are bringing better profits to apple growers in the state. The conference will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Water Resources, Harish Rawat on Friday.